Wednesday, November 5, 2014

IBM medicare.oneexchange.com/ibm Website and Conversation

I finally called OneExchange a few days ago to confirm part D insurance enrollment and to ask to be dis-enrolled in a vision plan that we had selected through OneExchange. They never fail to disappoint. 
 
First, the OneExchange website is still a mess. I looked at the plans available in my zip code and they still do not display the AARP UHC plans on the website - to find out that information  you must call OneExchange.  Then, I checked our enrollment information to verify our plans. The information for my part D plan is correct.  However, for my spouse, the information showed he was enrolled in TWO part D plans.  Now, that's not possible (by law, Medicare will not allow it) but it was not clear what they were trying to describe.  Last year there was a problem with the first part D plan, so my spouse had to switch to a different plan.  The website displays both plans but does not have any indication of which plan is active.  There was also no way to use the OneExchange website to dis-enroll from the vision plan. 
 
Next, I called OneExchange.  Similar to my experience last year, I was placed on hold for about 25 minutes before I spoke to a client representative.  I asked to representative (who was very nice) to confirm our part D enrollments and to explain why two part D plans were showing on the website for my spouse.  She put me on hold for about 10 minutes two times to try to get a logical answer for the two part D plans issue.  She finally said she was told it is because the website is showing enrollment history.  Ergo, there is no logical answer.  She did confirm our enrollments for our respective part D plans.
 
I then asked her to dis-enroll us from the vision plans for 2015 as we no longer wanted them.  She promptly said OneExchange cannot do it and I must call the insurance carrier to dis-enroll.  Now, that's also not logical.  An insurance agent (which OneExchange certainly is) can most certainly handle a dis-enrollment for these kinds of plans.  It's just not a service they provide. 
 
Although it is rather hateful to do it, I continue to encourage everyone to make sure to call OneExchange before December 7 and confirm all 2015 plan enrollments.  Make sure to record the date, time and agent name when you call just in case you need to do a Medicare appeal in 2015.  I also went to www.medicare.gov and verified our  respective  part D enrollments.  OneExchange is still too clumsy to trust.
 
 

2 comments:

  1. Looks like we're in for more fun. I'm about to do the same for the dental plan.My dentist sent out info that they were no longer in the delta dental network , so if I kept the plan the rates have gone up for 2015 and it would cost more for the visits.. I may just go for a discount plan and hope we don't have any major dental issues. Even with insurance root canals and crowns are expensive and that was even after the insurance paid their part.. Bottom line with OneExchange last year I started recording all phone calls with them so there were no misinterpretations. I just let them know they are being recorded. I hope things go smother this year.

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    1. If you are a member of USAA, they started selling dental plans in some states. You probably know this already - ask your dentist if there are any plans he does accept to get a "negotiated" rate. My dentist is not part of a network and the only out-of-network individual dental insurance I could find worth the premium and annual max was USAA (but they don't sell it in my state).

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